snip snap snorum
by lavender macarons
Summary: Life doesn't have to be a tragedy to be memorable. "ebullience" is now complete! [ragtag troop universe] Modern AU, a series of ficlets and drabbles.
1. phantasmagoria

**chapter one:** _phantasmagoria_, or _the one where Eponine is a dreamer_  
**pairings:** hints at Enjolras/Eponine, but Eponine-centric  
**prompt:** "And then there are the times when the wolves are silent and the moon is howling," from Barriss on tumblr.

* * *

Sometimes she gets lost in her head.

It starts when she's young, around five or so. Eponine already reads more than the average ten year old by this age and it's mostly due to her mother, Emilia, who reads fairy tales to her at bedtime (_when she's actually home for bedtime_), and reads a lot of romances (_classics, chick lit, fantasy, the novels that are by the registers at FoodMaxx, etc._) in her own time.

Her parents, when they're home, spend most of their time taking care of Azelma and Gavroche — and then Jack and then Noah (_her father, Don, named them, is it obvious?_) — but Eponine doesn't complain (_much_), instead, she takes to making up stories.

It starts off as her just dreaming up goldfish or a pink bicycle or chocolate cake, but as she gets to the age of eight, her odd little tales become more elaborate.

* * *

The sun is grinning at her, but the moon sings with a raucous bass.

Gavroche and Jack are John and Michael, Azelma is Wendy, Noah is one of the lost boys, and Eponine is Peter Pan, leading them all through Neverland to find adventures with pixies, mermaids, and bogdwellers.

She's a pirate scouring the earth for treasure. She's finding her own island and declaring herself the queen. She is a fashionista wearing the best clothes in Milan. She's in France, she's a doctor, she's a singer, she's in love.

There are princesses that welcome her as she visits their kingdoms with their gardens ready for a tea party. They wander through the lines of flowers and trees, basking in the sunlight and the aroma of peaches, then they run from the guards and go for a swim in the lake behind the castles.

There is a prince wandering the world for her hand in marriage and he comes armed with the finest ribbons to bind her hair. They sit by a crystalline sea while he runs his fingers through her silky, chestnut hair, putting it into an intricate plait, then he moves to kneel in front of her and presents her with a ring — round cut, because they sparkle more (_as proven by physics_) — and she doesn't even hesitate when she says yes.

There are fairies dusting her hair with glitter, ready to transform her life. They grant all of her wishes with smiles on their faces, then she is standing on stage, singing to the world of her troubles, her journeys, and her happiness.

* * *

Sometimes she's convinced it is all real.

Eponine claims the fantasies were just a phase when she stops conjuring them at ten. She becomes more focused on singing after her class takes a field trip to see the Beauty and the Beast musical when its tour passes by Southern California. The music teacher in her elementary school and the director of the junior high school music program she auditions for both believe that she is going to go far with a singing career — "Remember me, kid, when you're on Broadway." — and they get her to take on individual vocal lessons.

When she is twelve, things take a turn for the worse at home and her parents are on the verge of a divorce. The tensions are high every night, someone is screaming, another is crying, and some are huddled into the corner of their living room. She distracts herself with the assignments from her music teacher, but it becomes harder and harder to concentrate on the positive things when it seems like her family is falling apart.

Some days the kids would stay with their mother at their home (_a three bedroom apartment in one of the sketchy areas of town_) and some days they are with their father, in a motel room, (_also in a sketchy area_) but every day she imagines they were happier.

* * *

The sun is winking at her, but the moon is whistling a tune that can't be heard.

They are in a mansion, running through the halls calling dibs on five rooms each. There's a cook that becomes her confidant and prepares the best desserts for whenever her friends come to visit. Her parents go out every weekend on a date night and her siblings are all fighting for a turn to swing on the rope by the pool.

They are in a single family house in the suburbs, there's a park across the street where she talks with her friends until curfew. She still shares her room with Azelma, and the boys still cramp into a room to small for their voices, but they have a backyard that's filled with fruit trees and grass, and they spend their summer nights out there watching movies projected against a bed sheet. Her mom finally has time to read again and her dad can pretend he's good at football with Gavroche.

They are together under one roof.

* * *

Sometimes she wishes it was real.

Thankfully, by the time she turns thirteen in August, her parents work it through and everything seems to be improving in their lives. Her parents still argue frequently — they're probably just destined to live like that, but they do care for each other and their children — but Emilia was promoted at her job, Don got a raise, they were able to move into a better area (_smaller apartment, but no one is complaining_), and she was actually excited for school.

Except for one thing. Eponine had to give up her singing lessons and her spot in the choir at school because they simply couldn't afford it. Her parents insisted on her staying, because it meant that there would be one less kid to worry about being at home all the time, but she knew it was too difficult to pay for when the boys really needed a tutor and it would save them money if she was the one at home taking care of Noah.

Eponine would still spend her free time in the local library absorbing musical scores, but it isn't the same as having a performance to look forward to. She uses the library's computers to look up videos on the internet of Patti Lupone, Julie Andrews, and Bernadette Peters. She pretends that she is Maria in West Side Story or Christine in the Phantom of the Opera, or that she is Elphaba in Wicked, soaring to the top of the stage during Defying Gravity and saving her Fiyero.

* * *

The sun is the Soprano to her Mezzo (_no one ever said she could actually hit the notes the characters above do_), but the moon refuses to accompany her with the baritone it knows.

She is standing center stage, opening her school's concert with a solo while everyone stares in awe at her. The other members of her group take to their positions in formation two measures before her solo ends, and beam at her while she walks to her place.

She is the voice of a Disney Princess, little girls run up to her in the street wearing shirts with the character on it and shyly ask for a picture. She sings the main love song with them and their parents thank her while texting their friends that they just met a celebrity.

She is at the Tony's accepting the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. There are tears at the corners of her eyes as she thanks her parents and her siblings and the boy from five years ago that was mopping the aisle at Walmart that she slipped in and impelled her future agent to help her up.

* * *

Sometimes reality is better.

During her junior year of high school, she gets the lead role in the school's winter and spring musicals despite not being a member of band, choir, dance, or theatre. She receives a standing ovation at the end of each performance, and her parents are there with a bouquet on closing night screaming that she's going to be a star.

This becomes the topic of her essays for the universities she applies to in her senior year even though she is going in as an engineering major. The school that ultimately accepts her required an interview along with applications, and the man that interviewed her emails her after she receives the acceptance letter saying that he would only let her in if she kept singing (_jokingly!_). He gets her a schedule that essentially has an overload of units, but allows her to take classes with the best vocal professor.

Eponine is ecstatic, and so are Cosette and Musichetta when she tells them, but the oddest thing is when Marius and Benjamin actually cry for her — Eponine thinks that they spend a little _too_ much time watching Mamma Mia.

It takes a lot of work, but it's worth it when, at the end of her first performance in university (_she's not the lead, but she's still a sophomore so that's alright_), her little group of twelve are screaming at her from the audience - there's a "You did it! You did the thing!" from Rowell, a "That's my baby!" from Marius and Benjamin, and a "That ass though!" from Adrian (_which earns him a slap in the head from Musichetta_) - and the pride radiating off of a certain blonde-haired boy from the twelve makes her butterflies flutter throughout her whole body.

* * *

The sun oddly resembles Cosette and Musichetta in matching yellow and orange sundresses prancing and warbling in harmony, and the moon is finally singing along in a booming tenor, taking on the forms of Gabriel, Marius and Benjamin (_it was Mamma Mia after all)_.

The rest of them are a little hard on the ears.

* * *

a/n: _phantasmagoria _(n.) is a sequence of real or imaginary images, like those seen in a dream

_snip snap snorum _is the name of a German card game. My intention was to use the origin of the word 'snippets', seeing as this collection of one-shots and dribbles is going to be little moments of their lives, and along the research of the etymology of this word came the name of this game.

This story is set in the same universe as "the linguistics of love" and "in search of vermillion" and will be multi-chaptered. The universe is called "ragtag troop" and will have tales about all the members of the Barricade Boys and their gal pals.

It probably will _not _be angsty or heavy reads, because I want to focus on what their lives would look like if they were placed into a nice living situation. It is possible to be happy and fight for a good cause, you know?

Please Read & Review! (:


	2. ebullience, part 1

**chapter two:** _ebullience (part 1)_, or _the one where Courfeyrac is a charmer_  
**pairing(s):** Courfeyrac/OC

* * *

Usually, Gabriel walks home with his sister on Thursdays because it's the only day that the he doesn't have soccer practice and he gets out at the same time as Mina, but, since the practice on Monday was cancelled, the coach decided to move it to Thursday. He asks Adrian to walk with her because Henry lives in the other direction, and it's his only choice - the cross guard watches them the whole way anyway, since they're only ten, seven, and ten respectively.

Adrian, of course, agrees because he lives right next to them and he wants to tell Mina the joke he learned from his dad - for some reason, she's the only one that appreciates them. As he approaches the area of her classroom, he hears crying and he peeks around the corner and sees three girls and Mina crouched against the wall behind them.

"Are you a princess or something? Why are you talking to those boys all the time?" gibes one of the girls that he recognizes from his class.

"They're too good for you, way out of your league. And you look weird, like a- like a weirdo!" taunts a shorter girl that he's seen around the fourth grade PE class.

"Can they even understand you? I bet you can't speak American. I wonder how they can even stand looking at you when you can't even make eye contact!"

"Oh, I get it, because her eyes are small she can't see them!" This comes from a girl he knows to be in Mina's grade. At this point, Mina is crying, and loudly too, but the teacher is across the schoolyard talking to one of the parents, so Adrian decides to take action himself.

"What do you think you're doing?" At the sound of Adrian's voice, the three girls jump apart, but Adrian blocks them before they can escape. "You didn't give me an answer."

"She looks differ-" Before the youngest girl can continue, the one from his class covers her mouth with her hand.

"Because she looks different? Are you serious? We live in California, in Southern California! Have you even stepped outside your door? You better leave Mina alone, she may look different, but that means nothing AND she's a better person than all of you combined. You're lucky that I caught you guys and it wasn't Gabe." As soon as he was done with his spiel, the three girls ran as fast as they could from the scene.

Mina still had a few sobs that were slipping out of her mouth, but she is staring at Adrian in wonder as he turns to her and cracks a crooked grin. He holds out his hand and she shakily grabs on as he pulls her to her feet, and he doesn't protest when her grip doesn't lighten up.

"Shall we go my lady?"

They hold hands the entire trip down the block.

* * *

Mina isn't really that boy crazy (_her parents are really thankful for that_). Even when she reaches middle school, she doesn't spend her time like the rest of the girls in her class talking about their new crush of the week.

She does, however, spend a lot of time with her older brother and his friends, namely, Adrian Courfeyrac. Gabriel doesn't mind her being around, but he does mind that she gravitates toward Adrian whenever she can.

It is really innocent at first (_and admittedly, it still is_), and it started with the day Adrian walked her home. She was absolutely gleeful because he walked home with her every day after that for the rest of the school year. For years, she looked at him like a hero and it was understandable considering what he did for her.

Eventually, when she hits ten, she grows out of that phase, but they become something more akin to best friends rather than a big brother and little sister. They don't walk home together anymore because his junior high is a lot farther away and she claims she doesn't need a guardian anyway, but on weekends there is countless teasing and hours spent together racing on their bikes.

Mina might not be boy crazy, but Adrian was a lovesick fool when it came to girls. He was one of those annoying boys - once he was thirteen and in the eighth grade and his voice dropped - that had a new "girlfriend" every week, and all the girls in his grade completely loved it. Gabriel and Henry could only take so much of his talking, so he would tell everything to Mina. She didn't mind, she spent most of the time goading him - "Why in the world would they like your stupid curly hair?" - and helping him sort out the good girls - "Wasn't she the one that drank the lab materials and had to be taken away by poison control?"

Neither of them notice when her commentary starts to become possessive, but Gabriel does.

She is thirteen and he's still fifteen, she's in the eighth grade and he's a junior in high school and he has a girlfriend who's taking up a lot of his schedule. In October, Mina complains that he doesn't spend time with her anymore and that his girlfriend is taking him away from her, and his girlfriend says the exact same thing a month later because he started his weekend handouts with Mina again.

At the end of that November, he has a huge arguement with his girlfriend because he spent his birthday with Mina, even though Gabriel and Henry were there too. They inevitably break up, and he is heartbroken, but it's okay because Mina is there and she helps him through his first heartbreak. It's odd, and no one on his track team understands why he chose an eighth grader over the most desired girl in their grade. He just shrugs when they bring it up.

* * *

Gabriel watched all of this happen in panic from the sidelines. His sister liked one of his best friends, and his best friend treats her differently too, and neither of them knew. Like the poster child he is, he ran to his parents for help in this situation. Initially his parents just laugh - there is nothing in the world as hilarious as Gabriel asking about relationships - but they eventually calm down enough to realize that their thirteen year old baby girl is probably interested in Gabriel's hyperactive-sixteen-year-old-casanova best friend.

"My little girl is growing up!" cries Penelope. "I think he might be too tad old for her, I have to agree with his track teammates! She's only in eighth grade and he's halfway done with high school!"

"If you look at it mathematically though, he's only a little over two years older than her since she is turning fourteen in January" quips Sebastian, earning a glare from both Gabriel and Penelope. "Okay, too old, too old."

"I guess he's an alright kid… He's an honor student, his mother always brings that up at our neighborhood dinners."

"Plus he actually walked Mina home for almost a whole school year."

"Maybe it'll be fine. They haven't even really tried pursuing each other."

"Fine? What do you- How- But he- He's just so... Adrian!" whines Gabriel. "And Mina is too young, she shouldn't date! Ever! Or not until she's thirty!" Sebastian doubles over in laughter at the proclamation, and Penelope walks over to Gabriel to pat him on the shoulder.

"Oh, she has to grow up sometime honey."

Both his parents know that the silence coming from Gabriel, along with the pout forming on his lips show that he does understand even if he absolutely doesn't like it.

* * *

a/n: I have one or two more parts still coming up for this installment!

Please Read & Review!


	3. ebullience, part 2

**chapter two: **_ebullience (part 2)_, or _the one where Courfeyrac is oblivious_  
**pairing(s):** Courfeyrac/OC  
**note: **I have posted a character guide on my tumblr account for this universe! [ _coruscatus_ on tumblr, add this "post/78135024159/" to the end of the url]

* * *

Over the next year, much to Gabriel's utter dismay, Mina's affection for Adrian continues to grow. The only person that doesn't know, to Mina's utter dismay, is Adrian.

* * *

When she turns fourteen, he is the first one to greet her. She is sleeping because it's a school night, but as soon as it hits midnight, her phone is ringing non-stop. It rings for a good fifteen minutes before Gabriel, whose room is across the hall, comes in and flings a pillow at her and screams at her to answer her phone.

He sings an off-key birthday greeting to her and they talk on the phone until they realize that the thing lighting up their rooms is the sun. They both show up to their respective schools with dark circles under their eyes and goofy grins on their faces.

He is still single that Valentine's Day, so he picks her up and they spend the day together after school waiting for Gabriel to get out of soccer practice and making fun of Henry who has a date later that night. Once Henry leaves (_with his face fairly flushed_), they go onto the track and Adrian yells lines from Titanic (_it is windy, everyone does Titanic when it's windy_) and Mina is singing My Heart Will Go On loudly and only on pitch half the time. When he picks her up and pretends that she is Rose, he doesn't see the bright red blush that is painting her face.

When she graduates from junior high four months later, he is screaming the second loudest when they call her name - no one can beat Mrs. Enjolras when it comes to cheering for her children. He sends her Los Angeles themed postcards that he buys from the hotel a mile away from their neighborhood when she goes off to camp and she shows (_brags about_) all of them to her best friend - Olivia, who happens to be half Korean (_Asians can always find the other Asians, especially when there's only three in the whole school_) - that went to camp with her.

That August, Mina starts high school and Adrian is starting his final year in high school. All the members of track team all tease her when they see her in the hallway because they know she is Adrian's best friend, and later because they realize she likes him.

Track season is usually in the spring, but their coaches insist on having practice throughout the school year because it's so warm anyway. They have a mock track meet with one of their sister schools, but Mina is the only one that watches because Gabriel is working on his college application essays and Henry has practice for marching band. Since it is October, it is almost thirty degrees cooler by the time the meet ends and Mina is shivering despite wearing multiple layers (_California weather is a tricky thing_). He gives her his jacket when they are walking back to the car, and she unfailingly turns into the shade of her brother's favorite color.

Needless to say, there is a lot of squealing over the phone with Olivia when she gets home, and Gabriel throws multiple pillows at her throughout the night.

* * *

At the beginning of February, Adrian runs up to Mina in the hallway and tells her that he's in love with Karen, a senior and the head cheerleader. He starts spending all of his free time plotting how he os going to ask Karen to prom and only sees Mina when he stops by her house to study for AP Biology with Gabriel and Henry.

Since they aren't really talking, she keeps to herself that she's seen Karen hanging around with Luke from the football team, and they are obviously more than friends even though they deny it.

* * *

"Why are you taking Karen to prom? It's only the end of February! Can't you ask somebody else? She doesn't even like you and she has a thing with Luke, she's probably just using you."

"Mina, prom is at the end of May and she's like the most sought after girl in school! I had to ask her before someone else did… And don't talk about her like that, I like her! And it's prom, I need a date! Who the hell goes without one?"

"My brother? Henry? The people that have actual fun?"

"What the fuck do you know about this anyway? You're just a freshman!"

"Apparently a lot more than you! Just go solo, you don't need her… I don't want you to get hurt…"

"I need to have a nice keychain picture though!"

"You really want to have a shitty night? For a fucking keychain? Go ahead, see if I care." Mina hisses, turning and stomping away towards the kitchen with Jean quickly following her to make sure that she would be okay. Henry glances warily at Gabriel, who is sitting and glaring at Adrian, before walking over to Adrian and putting his hand on his shoulder.

"What's with her dude? I don't get it, what did I do wrong?"

Henry sighs and glances at Gabriel again, who now looks like he's planning Adrian's demise. "She's just looking out for you. You know that Karen has been talking to Luke a lot lately too…"

"This is different though! Mina's never gotten this mad before, and I've gone out with even more questionable girls," Adrian says while pacing the room. "And don't you start either, Karen is a really nice girl and I think I really like her."

"You've said that about every other girl. What's your count again?" Gabriel is fuming and the silence hovering from Adrian's side of the room fuels his anger even more. "Oh god, do you really not get it? You really don't know why Mina is acting like this?"

"No…?"

Gabriel walks over to him and slaps the back of his head. "You're such a dumbass."

As Gabriel walks out of the room, Henry catches Adrian's gaze again. "You really don't understand?" Adrian shakes his head and Henry groans before walking over and proceeding to slap him on the back of his head too. "You really are a dumbass."

* * *

Mina is alone at home at 2 AM on their prom night because her parents went to visit her aunt in New York, who just had a baby, and they want her to stay home to make sure the prom's after party doesn't end up at their house. She is waiting up for Gabriel, Henry, and Adrian to come home because Henry texted her an hour earlier that he might need some help. All three don't answer their phones after she receives the text, but she sees Jean pull up in the driveway before she can have a full on panic attack.

She watches Henry drag Gabriel into the house, with Adrian trailing along slowly behind them, before she waves off Jean and Logan - after getting their numbers and promising to update them on the situation tomorrow.

"What the fuck happened to you guys?!" Even though she hasn't talked to Adrian in months, Mina is still concerned after all three of them collapse on the couch in their suits. Gabriel is obviously drunk, Henry looks like he's been through hell and back - "Is that vomit on you Henry?" - and Adrian's gaze is stuck on her like a moth on a light bulb.

Henry gets up first, "Someone spiked Gabe's drink at the party - he's such a lightweight - in Karen's house and he threw up on me. Ugh, I'll go help him to his room and steal some of his clothes for myself," he looks over at Adrian. "I think Adrian has to talk to you anyway, so I'll leave you guys alone. See you in the morning… or whenever we can wake up."

"Just let me know if you need anything! Good night!" She says to Henry who is supporting Gabriel while making their way up the stairs, and then she sits down on the couch, putting as much distance between her and Adrian that the small loveseat can allow.

"Mina…" Adrian calls her softly, so she turns to him and raises her left eyebrow.

"What?"

"You were right..." He sighs, and there is a long pause before he starts speaking again. "You were right, but I wish you weren't right."

"What do you mean?"

"She was using me, Mina! She was trying to get Luke to make a move and finally ask her out. I guess I should have known when I couldn't find her for the last slow dance, but no, I still went with her to her house party where, of course, I find them making out less than five minutes later," he's tearing up at this point, and her chest aches a little bit seeing him this distressed. "You were right, but I really wish you weren't right…"

Mina moves closer to him and hugs him tightly, "I wish I wasn't right too…"

"I'm sorry I stopped talking to you, I shouldn't have put our friendship on the line just for a girl."

"We're talking now, aren't we?" When she looks at him, she can't help but smile. "It was my fault too, you know? I could have tried to fix things with you, but I didn't. You know, you'll find a good girl one day. I know you will."

* * *

They are still awkward with each other that summer, but they start finding their rhythm again before Adrian goes off to college. However, it is a more cautious kind of friendship because they are both afraid of ruining it.

He finds himself thinking about her when he is spacing out, but he tries to shake the thoughts out as soon as they appear.

Sometimes he remembers the nights they spent on the phone talking about their day or their ambitions or their beliefs or anything that pops into their heads. Sometimes he remembers the smile that appears on her face when she beats him in a race.

Sometimes he thinks of her anger when he asked Karen to prom. Sometimes he can see the hurt in her eyes when he'd just pass by her when he came over to study with Gabriel and Henry.

Sometimes he imagines what it would have been like if he took her to prom. Sometimes he remembers the sincerity in her gaze when she was comforting him after the train wreck that his prom night turned out to be.

Then he snaps back to reality and really remembers how young she is and who her brother is, and he's just so confused about everything going on in his mind. He tells Henry of his dilemma, but all he gets is a raised eyebrow and "For the romancing expert you claim to be, you are pretty damn clueless."

* * *

a/n: There will be one more part for this ficlet, and I'll try to have it up sometime tomorrow. It's pretty difficult writing romances when you haven't had any!

Doesn't everyone pull out Titanic moments when the wind is intense? Or is that just me?

Please Read & Review!


	4. ebullience, part 3

**chapter two: **_ebullience (part 3)_, or _the one where Courfeyrac is reduced to a stammering idiot_  
**pairing(s):** Courfeyrac/OC, implied E/E, M/C, Joly/Musichetta  
**note: **Olivia was first mentioned in part two, she's Mina's best friend.

* * *

When Adrian goes to university, even though it's only an hour away (_and that's only because of LA traffic_), they almost never see each other. He doesn't come home often, and his summer breaks aren't really breaks because he takes extra classes (_but he still won't graduate in four years, four year promises are a lie!_). Mina herself has a full workload and is often up all night doing schoolwork or practicing violin or polishing her Korean, which she is starting to learn.

However, for two people that don't see each other, they still talk. A lot.

And it's mostly initiated by Adrian.

He constantly texts her about his day and the things that go on in the cafe and he calls her on the weekends when he's stuck in the dormitory for the night - he often just stays there for that purpose.

He does get a fair number of girlfriends and dates and phone numbers slipped into the palm of his hand, but when he talks to these girls, he finds himself missing Mina and wishing that he was with her instead, teasing Henry and Gabriel or hearing her laugh at his dad's latest pun.

* * *

Mina meets Eponine's family not long after the Valentine's Day that Gabriel and Eponine begin their relationship. She is seventeen at the time, so naturally she gets along well with Azelma, who is eighteen. They exchange embarrassing stories about their older siblings and laugh with each other when they spot the Thenardier matron appraising Gabriel like a Greek statue - "You caught a good one Eponine! He looks like he's come straight out from one of my novels!"

They spend more time together, and add Gavroche along to their outings over the rest of their school year and summer vacation, but eventually it dwindles down to two because Azelma starts to prepare for her move up north for college. It is essentially very awkward the first few times because Azelma was always the one that would start the conversations, but that changes when he sees the name of the person she's texting when they go to get ice cream.

"Adrian? Like, Gabriel's best friend Adrian? Oh my god, are you the girl he's always texting?"

"Maybe? I'm not sure. He probably texts a lot of girls."

"Nah, at least not from what I've heard. He goes on a lot of dates and what not, but Eponine told me that he doesn't talk to those girls on the phone much, and Gabe doesn't want to spill who he's talking to."

"Really now?" Mina raises her brow, goes over what he said in her mind and then slams her phone on the table. "Fuck, I knew it! Gabriel fucking knows!"

"Mhmm. But damn, that guy is my hero. He really knows how to charm a lady… And Gabe knows what, exactly?"

"That he does," she sighs and starts to rub her temples. "He really does."

Gavroche stares at her, scanning her face when he realizes that she didn't answer his question, and a smug smile starts to appear on his face. "You like him! You like Adrian, don't you?"

For a minute she is silent, and she tries to calculate responses that will get her out of the situation, but at his wide grin, she can tell that he's not going to let go of the subject. She groans and shovels a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, "Dorrn't remmand fme!"

"Aww man! This is some news," he says this through his laughter "Does he know?"

"No…" she sees a mischievous look flash on his face and yells "You better not tell him! Don't tell anyone!"

"I won't, I won't… This actually kind of sucks, knowing how many girls try to pursue him," his smile fades seeing her face. "This is probably the only time I'll admit it, but I guess his game with girls can be a bad thing," Gavroche stands up, grabs her wrist, and pulls her into the shop. "In light of your agony, I'll get you another scoop of ice cream."

"As you should, young one!"

"Not again! I would have been in the same grade as you if it wasn't for that stupid cutoff date rule!"

* * *

He hangs around her and her best friend, Olivia, more when the school year starts up and Gavroche and Mina settle into a banter-filled, completely platonic relationship. Most of their banter is centered around her crush on Adrian or the current recipient of his infatuation (_it changes every week_).

* * *

Adrian gets annoyed when a majority of the responses to his texts mentions Gavroche or when she stops calling on the weekends because she's out with Gavroche.

* * *

Adrian freezes in his spot when he hears what Eponine is going on about. "Can you repeat that please?"

"What? That Mina asked Gavroche to go to her prom? Cute thing, isn't it?"

"Are you sure?"

"Uhh, yeah I'm pretty sure," Eponine stares at Adrian intently as he starts to fidget in his seat. "She told me last night. I'm so excited to see them this weekend!" At this, Cosette and Musichetta distract Eponine from questioning Adrian as they start talking about the group's plans for their Spring Break that is starting that weekend.

Henry sees Adrian's distraught face from across the room and sighs - Jean gives him a look of sympathy when he hears him utter "Why do I always have to deal with these things?" under his breath - before walking over. "What's with the look?"

"Gavroche… She asked Gavroche…"

"What's wrong with that? You know they've been hanging out a lot recently, and he's a good kid. He practically worships you, don't you like him?"

"Of course I like him! It's just…"

"Just what?"

"It's just… Ugh, I don't know. It's nothing, it's nothing."

"You're jealous, aren't you?"

"No! No I'm- I just… Maybe? Yes? I don't know!"

* * *

The group of thirteen arrive at Gabriel's house around noon on Friday, waiting for Mina, Gavroche, and Olivia to come home from the mall. None of them had class on Fridays, so their spring break starts earlier than most students, and all the high schools in the district have a furlough day, so they all planned to meet in the Enjolras' household before heading to the amusement park.

They are all talking in the living room when they hear the front door open and someone laughing. All of them get up and slowly walk towards the front room to find Olivia laughing so hard, tears were coming out of her eyes and Mina and Gavroche making ridiculous movements with their arms, shaking a pedometer.

"What in the world are you doing Mina? Gav?" says Gabriel with a bewildered expression.

"We were supposed to go running earlier, hence the pedometer, but they turned it into some contest to get a higher number, hence the… whatever you want to call those movements," explains Mina after she catches her breath. The two in question finally stop - agree to settle the scores later on - and move to congregate with the rest of the group.

Mina notices Adrian is standing quite a distance behind the group with a slight scowl on his face. When they make eye contact, she tilts her head and mouths "You okay?" and he nods trying to smile at her - it really doesn't look like a smile though. Before she can investigate further, she sees that her brother is still looking at her like she's grown another head from her antics earlier, and she decides that she will ask Adrian about it later.

"What's up brother mine? It's been quite some time." Mina chirps before moving closer to Gabriel and attacking him with a hug.

* * *

All the girls travel in one car together, while the guys are split between two cars. Eponine is driving and Cosette is occupying shotgun, so Musichetta, Mina, and Olivia are in the back seat.

Once they are all settled in and have a radio station picked - they spend the first twenty minutes of the drive singing along to showtunes, Musichetta starts nudging Mina's shoulder.

"So you and Gav, huh?"

Mina turns to look at her confused, "What about me and Gav?"

"Eponine said you asked him to go to your prom with you!"

Mina then shares a confused glance with Olivia, and then shouts "Oh nononono no, no! There must have been some sort of miscommunication!"

Eponine turns down the radio and looks at Mina through the rearview mirror, "Miscommunication?"

"Yeah! I asked Gavroche to take Olivia to our prom! Her original date was a total asshat and said yes when another girl asked him, so… And god knows I like Ad- eep!" she squeals and then slaps her hand onto her mouth, while Olivia starts laughing into her jacket sleeve.

"Like who? Like A… Ad… Adrian? You like Adrian?!" Cosette is screaming, turning back as much as the seat belt lets her. When Mina starts to turn red, she starts screaming again. "Oh my god, you do! You like Adrian!"

The three college girls start talking loudly over each other, indistinguishable chatter filling the car along with Olivia, who is now unabashedly laughing out loud.

"I hate all of you. I hate you guys so much." Mina starts alternating pulling her own hair out of frustration, and swatting at Olivia in annoyance. When the girls calm down, she finally brings up what was bothering her since she saw them in her house. "Since you guys know how I feel already, I guess I can just ask this with no tricks. Why was Adrian acting so strangely earlier?"

"If you ask me, he's always strange, but what do you mean?" questions Eponine.

"He was just sulking, quietly behind the group! He's normally the one that can't stop talking."

"He likes you," Olivia pipes in. "He likes you, I can tell!"

"What?!"

"Actually, you know what, that makes sense," says Musichetta. "Don't you remember Eponine? The look on his face when you told him the news that has now proven to be false?"

"Oh yeah!" cries Cosette while snapping her fingers. "He looked like he got kicked in the face or something. Henry even pulled him aside after, and I think heard him say something about being jealous? Don't cite me on that though, I'm not sure."

"I think he is jealous though!" Olivia shakes Mina's shoulder in excitement. "Didn't you see the way he glared at Gav when you two were talking in the driveway before we left? After that, when we were trying to split the cars, he was the one that suggested that we have some 'girl bonding time' too!"

Mina sighs at the turns the conversation have taken. "I can only dream that it'd work out that way."

* * *

In the other five-seater, Marius is driving and Henry is the navigator in the front passenger seat while Gabriel, Adrian, and Rowell are squishing together in the back. Everyone can hear Adrian's sighs and mutterings even over the conversation of Rowell and Marius. Gabriel scowls when he turns and sees the pout on Adrian's face and comments before Henry, the officially appointed mediator of the group, can say anything.

"Adrian, if you don't fucking like what's going on between Mina and Gav, man up and tell her that you like her!"

"But I don-"

"Don't you dare say you don't like her! It's so obvious. I know you've been talking to her, hell, you've been talking to her more than me and we talk almost every day! And you've been pouting for almost four days straight since you found out about the prom thing. If you don't take this chance, I'll never give you another one."

"Okay, yes, I do like her I guess. But I don't want to take this away from her if it's what she wants."

"It's all up to you to decide what you're going to do, you're twenty years old man, only you can choose what you think is right, but just remember you'll never know if it could work out if you don't tell her."

After a few moments of silence, a faint whisper can be heard from the driver of the car. "Adrian likes someone?"

"Marius, you are so lucky you're driving right now or my palm would be hitting you."

* * *

When they reach the amusement park, they immediately head to the best ride because the wait for it is almost two hours long. They are excited since they'll take up exactly one cart with exactly eight pairs. As soon as they reach the line, Gabriel immediately pulls Eponine to the side and they start whispering to each other, and Mina does the same to Gavroche.

Adrian looks around about thirty minutes into the wait and sees that everyone is either whispering to each other or just on their phones, but he spots the pair of Gavroche and Mina and scowls and looks at the ground before he can question the atmosphere.

Fifteen minutes later, after the Eponine, Cosette, and Musichetta finish exchanging information with Gabriel and Henry, Gabriel walks up to Gavroche, pulls him away from Mina and tells him about what happened in their car.

"No way!" Adrian turns at Gavroche's exclamation in time to catch him smile widely at Gabriel and push his way back to Mina, grab her hands, and speak at about a mile a minute. Before another scowl can grace his face though, he sees Mina pull away from Gavroche and walk towards him.

"Hey stranger," she says to him with a soft smile on her face. "You haven't said anything to me yet today."

"Hey yourself. Yeah, I just- Sorry."

"No, it's okay, it's okay," she sighs and looks down at her feet for a few seconds, then she looks back at him. "So you've heard about the prom thing? Do you approve?"

"Yeah, I have…"

"But do you approve?"

"You don't need my approval to do anything."

"I know that! I just want to know if you do."

"I- Well, I- I," he looks away from her face and takes a deep breath before continuing. "I do, but I don't want it. I like you. I think I like you a lot, but I'll go with whatever makes you happy. I know you don't li-"

He stops mid-sentence because Mina is suddenly grinning and only a few inches away from him.

"I'm going to have to take a page from my brother's book and," she slaps him in the back of his head, "you are such a dumbass." Then she stands on her tip-toes, draws him down towards her by the collar of his shirt, and pushes their lips together.

Their friends are all hollering at them from their spots in the line - with the exception of Gabriel (_who is burying his face in Eponine's hair and muttering "I know I gave them my blessings, but I refuse to watch my sister grow up!"_) and Olivia (_who is taking multiple pictures on her phone and screaming "I have been waiting four long years for this moment! It needs to be documented!"_)

When they finally pull apart, the rest of the group look away and pretend they weren't watching - "Marius, hurry up! We're near the loading area, I want to be in the front!" "Musichetta, do you have the barf bag for me?" "Yes, Benjamin, I did not lose it between five minutes ago and now." "Gabe, you can get off me, they're done." "But you smell nice…" - and Adrian is dazed and his mouth is gaping like a fish. "Wait, wha- But Gav, I thought… what?"

"You really are clueless, you know that?" she laughs when she sees that he is still gaping, and moves to interlace their fingers. "I like you. I've liked you for so long, since I was fourteen or so? Maybe even before that. And there was never a thing with Gavroche, I asked him to take Olivia to prom."

"So… you like me?"

She scrunches her nose at him playfully. "I just said that, didn't I? Now come on, we can't let Cosette and Marius beat us for the front seats!"

* * *

a/n: And here it is, the end of _ebullience_! This part clocks in at 2,712 words, which is a lot more than I intended it to!

Please read and review! If you need any help with the names, just ask and I'll link you to my universe guide (the link is also in the last chapter!)

If you have any prompts or requests, I'd be glad to try them out! :D


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